A Recordsetting Opening To The Indoor Season

January 2019by T&FN

VaTech frosh Jacory Patterson claimed the American Junior Record in the 300. (DAVE KNACHEL/VIRGINIA TECH ATHLETICS)

THE FIRST WEEKEND of January found track still sleeping off turkey/football overloads, but things immediately turned hot just 7 days later. And the next weekend did its part as well. Multiple records to report:

Junior 300 Record By Jacory Patterson

He came to Virginia Tech with solid all-around dash credentials of 10.42, 20.99/20.65w/46.98, but that didn’t prepare us for Jacory Patterson’s collegiate debut. The Hokie frosh blasted the 300 in 32.49, a World Junior Record that topped Brian Herron’s 32.84 from last year. “Right now, it really hasn’t sunk in,” the 18-year-old South Carolina native said. “But I’m really excited because I didn’t know that I was going to run that fast. It hasn’t sunk it. I still can’t believe it. I really just wanted to go 32.60, but I had a loaded heat, and I let lane 6 pull me the whole race. When I got past the 200, I just gave it all I got.”

Said Tech sprint coach Tim Vaught, “I knew from the intrasquad that we ran in December… he ran 32.80, and after the race, he told me, ‘Coach, I could have run faster. I didn’t get out that hard in the beginning.’ “I said, ‘Guess what? In this first meet, don’t hold back.’ I told him to go for it, and let’s see what happens.”

Junior Vault Standard To Nastassja Campbell

Pro Morgann LeLeux’s 14-6¾ (4.44) won the women’s vault at the Nelson Invitational, but the big news came from runner-up Nastassja Campbell, who claimed the American Junior Record with her 14-4¾ (4.39). Last year’s No. 3-rated HS All-America, the 18-year-old Texan opened with a make at 12-9 (3.89), needed 3 shots at 13-1 (3.99), was perfect at 13-5 (4.09) and needed another 3 at 13-9 (4.19) before attempting a PR 14-¾ (4.29), which she made on second attempt. Next up was the AJR of 14-3¼ (4.35), set by Nebraska’s Natalie Willer in ’09. Second time was again the charm for the Stephen F. Austin frosh as she cleared 14-4¾ (4.39). She finished her day with 3 misses at 14-6¾.

Collegiate Kilo Record For Danae Rivers

Penn State’s Danae Rivers ran the quickest collegiate kilo ever.

Penn State junior Danae Rivers blasted the Collegiate Record in the 1000 on her home track with a 2:38.58 at the Nittany Lion Invitational. That was more than 2 seconds under the old best of 2:40.79 set by Oklahoma State’s Kaela Edwards in ’17. Anna Shields of NAIA school Point Park took 2nd in 2:42.51. A 2:02.53 performer in the 800 outdoors, Rivers was 8th in last year’s NCAA.

Said Nittany Lion coach John Gondak, “I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I’ve watched this team practice for so long and I’ve seen a lot of individuals take their training to another level, their fitness, their approach, their mentality. It’s something I was really excited to see and today it really played out.”

Trey Knight Claims HSR In Weight

He’s still just an 11th-grader, but Trey Knight (Ridgefield, Washington) can throw his weight around with the big boys quite well, thank you. Last year’s top-rated hammer thrower didn’t win the 35-pounder here, but he did crush the High School Record with his third-round toss of 67-11¾ (20.72). The old mark, 65-8¼ (20.02) was set by Davis ranker (McIntosh, Peachtree City, Georgia) in ’10. Knight’s series: 61-2¾ (18.66), 62-5¼ (19.03), 67-11¾ (20.72), 62-7¼ (19.08), 62-9¼ (19.13), foul.

2 High School Records For Bullis, 1 For Ewert

Racing on Liberty’s banked 200 track in Lynchburg, big-name preps flocked to the Virginia Showcase, which featured a trio of national records. The boys relay teams from powerhouse Bullis (Potomac, Maryland) rewrote history. On Friday, they took down the HSR in the 4 x 400, clocking a 3:12.53 to better the 3:13.06 set by New Bern, North Carolina, in ’09. The splits: senior Andre Turay 49.46, junior Ryan Willie 48.52, junior Jay Pendarvis 47.99, junior Ashton Allen (46.56). On Saturday, three of the four returned in the 4×2 and clocked 1:25.60, crushing the 1:26.09 HSR set by Long Beach Poly in 2005. The order: Ashton Allen, Austin Allen, Turay & Willie.

On the girls side, junior Taylor Ewert (Beavercreek, Ohio) continued to rewrite the walk standards. She covered 3000m in 13:24.76, which not only crushed her own national standard (and American Junior Record) of 13:45.0 set last year, but also took down the absolute records, surpassing her outdoor 13:31.79 from last year’s Penn Relays. □

Annual Subscription (Print Only)

Track Coach (Digital Only)

Track Coach Quarterly Technique Journal

Access to Track Coach Archived Issues

Note: Track Coach is included with all Track & Field News digital subscriptions. If you are a current T&FN subscriber, purchase of a Track Coach subscription will terminate your existing T&FN subscription and change your access level to Track Coach content only. Track & Field News print only subscribers will need to upgrade to a T&FN subscription level that includes digital access to read Track Coach issues and articles online.